New Delhi: In an operation carried out by the United States military, a senior Islamic State leader was killed in northern Somalia, US officials said on Thursday, as reported by the news agency Reuters. Bilal al-Sudani, a US-designated ISIS leader in Somalia, was killed in the operation along with about 10 of his associates, officials told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The officials further said, the operation was approved by US President Joe Biden earlier this week and carried out within the past 24 hours, Reuters reported.
However, the officials denied discussing the basic details of the operation. They also declined to articulate any direct threat posed by Sudani to the United States and provide details about whether any intelligence was collected.
The officials also denied giving any information on how the US forces carried out the operation or even how many American troops were involved in the operation.
"On January 25, on orders from the president, the US military conducted an assault operation in northern Somalia that resulted in the death of a number of ISIS members, including Bilal al-Sudani," Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement, as quoted by the news agency AFP.
"Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group's operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan," Austin said.
Al-Sudani provided and coordinated funding for IS branches from his mountain base in northern Somalia. He use to provide funding not only in Africa but also Islamic-State Khorasan, the arm operating in Afghanistan, a US official said on condition of anonymity, AFP reported. The preparation of the plan for the operation was going on over a period of months, with US forces rehearsing at a site built to replicate the terrain where Sudani was hiding.
The strike was authorised by Biden earlier this week after consulting with top defense, intelligence and security officials, the official said, AFP reported. "An intended capture operation was ultimately determined to be the best option to maximize the intelligence value of the operation and increase its precision in challenging terrain," another administration official said, as quoted by AFP.
However, "the hostile forces' response to the operation resulted in his death," the official said. The only injury to an American in the raid was that one serviceperson was bitten by a US military service dog, the official added. "This operation and all others, President Biden has made it very clear that we are committed to finding and eliminating terrorist threats to the United States and to the American people, wherever they are hiding, no matter how remote," the official said as quoted by AFP.